1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to data center workload management and, more particularly, to the controlling of resources within data centers. The invention also relates to the regulation of greenhouse gases.
2. Description of the Related Art
For some time now, the task of addressing global warming has been gaining worldwide momentum. In an effort to curb global warming, many nations have begun instituting regulations on how much greenhouse gas an entity may emit. In some cases, these regulations stem from worldwide treaties that mandate a nation's maximum emissions. For example, an update to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (known as “the Kyoto Protocol”) has set mandatory emission limits for signatory nations. As such, a governing body within such a nation may provide an allocation of emissions (or amount of allowable emissions) to a given company. In addition, in non-signatory nations, various governmental bodies have voluntarily instituted restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions.
Recently, several nations have expressed concern over the growing energy demands made by data centers. A single computing data center may include hundreds of thousands of computer servers that may be housed in thousands of server racks. According to some studies done in conjunction with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), estimates indicate that a single high-density server rack may consume as much as 20 kW. In addition to the power consumed by the computing equipment (which may account for only 19% of the data center power consumption), the data center infrastructure (e.g., cooling, back-up power supplies, etc.) may account for as much as and additional 80% of the power consumed by the data center. Thus, the power consumed by a data center is significant. As energy costs rise, regional energy demand increases, and regulation of greenhouse gas emission increases, energy consumption and resource management may become a critical factor in managing a data center.
There are many initiatives to reduce the amount of energy used in data centers. For example, the EPA is initiating an ENERGY STAR specification for enterprise computer servers. This specification may give data center managers a tool with which they may better estimate energy use of their systems. Along those lines, server equipment manufacturers have embarked on a campaign to produce “greener” machines that consume less energy. Further, recent studies are being conducted to determine the efficacy of using direct current (DC), instead of alternating current (AC) to power the data center equipment. However, even with the current and planned data center and server improvements described above, additional improvements may be desirable.